Is He Beyond Help?

[Stangin83]

Sorry for the double post... just anxiously trying to find an answer on a Sunday night...

So I got a male betta from a wedding... they had them as center pieces on the tables and wanted the guests to take one. Bad idea, yes, let's not get into that. Anyway, my girlfriend really wanted one, so somehow I got stuck with it. After we broke up, I grew increasingly tired of it... I am a full time PhD student, work, and have a pet bird, so I gave it to a female friend who LOVED it. I was over at her place this weekend and I don't think she had changed the water in the bowl for over a month. It is in a huge brandy snifter - probably about 1.5 gallons. Over 80% of the water had evaporated, leaving barely anything to swim in, waste all over the bottom. And a rubber plant which I threw out.

Anyway, this little guy is very weak, lost almost all his color, can't flare up like he used to... she's been feeding him nothing but brine shrimp for the past I don't even know how long... probably 4 months. (I had him on Hikari Gold and gave her that with some brine shrimp for a treat.. and very little has been used out since the Hikari probably ran out 3-4 months ago I'm guessing.)

So basically, I have this fish again. I feel terrible for the little thing. I do not have a lot of free time on my hands to care for the fish... so basically I'm wondering would it be more humane to euthanize it, or with proper food will it regain strength and vitality?

I used to keep cichlids before, and I remember a thread where they were talking about a way to euthanize fish... to put a cup of water in a freezer until it ices over, then break the ice, drop the fish in, and freeze. It supposedly will immediately go into shock and die peacefully... I also don't know if this is true.

So should I either get some more Hikari gold and slime coat and see if it gets better or just let it go quickly instead of starving to death. All I had today was brine shrimp and I gave him some and he ate it readily, as I would expect, so he's not THAT weak... but he looks pathetic.

And don't bother flaming me. If you try and attack me, as message board members tend to do, I will just ignore your entire post. I'm trying to determine the what will help the fish the most... and if proper nutrition is the answer I will continue to find a new home for it while I do that.

 

[jacko32]

personally i would try to nurse it back to health large water changes and a varied diet

 

[Stangin83]

What would a varied diet consist of?

 

[woodstock]

I completely understand where you're coming from.

If you live in the UK, is there a Craigslist? How about you try to rehome it if you cannot take care of him. If you can't, then you can't (but of course you could try as well). In the meanwhile, take care of him as best you can. Water changes, feeding, etc.

A varied diet would be the pellets and various treats like brine shrimp, and bloodworms, and etc.

I would not euthanize him. He seems salvagable enough. Do plenty of water changes, in a bowl or tank as big as you can afford (2.5 gal, 5 gal, however you choose), feed him, etc.

I wouldn't be surprised if he were sick right now, so if there's anything you notice, please tell!. Don't forget he's a tropical fish, so please buy a heater or heat him up as well as possible. 77-80F is nice.

In your free time, you don't exactly have to HANG OUT with him for now. Utilize your free time to go out and buy that tank, then to water changes and feed him. Feeding him once a day is definitely workable, just feed him a bit more. Probably 4 or so in that meal. No less, but maybe more. Also, to prevent constipation and further trouble, *pre soak* the pellets and allow them to absorb water as they're very dry. If you have garlic juice at the ready, definitely presoak it in the garlic juice, as it seems to strengthen their immune system. It's proven fabulous to me. Good luck, and I'm glad you've taken him back ~

 

[GuppyGoddess]

Hi,
Can you get a slightly larger home for the fish and then just plop it in there with a heater? Even if you move the fish up to a 2 gallon with NO gravel (to conserve the space for water) and put a 7.5 watt hydor heater in there, the fish should be okay. Then you could just change out all the water every 4 days. It wouldn't take much time at all and the betta would at least have a chance to have an okay life with you!

He sounds like he was so abused and just a few basic changes, as I outlined, would make a world of difference for the little guy. You don't have to go all out with a huge tank or other stuff. Just make sure he has clean water, etc.

 

[keithp]

The betta can recover. What you first must do is make sure the water doesnt get dirty again, so this way he can recover. You also need a bigger tank becuase the smaller it is, the quicker it will get dirty. You could start off with a 2-3 gallon for now until he gets stronger.

For ill bettas I add 2-3 drops of Aquarisol to the water at each water change. If your betta is looking sick you could add 6-8 salt chunks from the freshwater aquarium salt you buy in the pet store. Meaning only 6-8 individual salt pieces, it may not seem like much, but too much of this can harm your betta, so you must be careful. In the right amount it will improve gill function and slime coat, helping your betta recover faster.

For food I suggest frozen bloodworms, hikari betta pellets, and when he gets better you can also feed frozen daphnia and brine shrimp.

If you can post a picture we can see if he has any illnesses and can help you with his recovery.

This is the salt I was talking about for freshwater fish.

 

[hamfist]

Yes, as he's eating readily I'd say he's very much savable. Good advice from others.

Just another word about diet .... don't give bloodworm more than once a week, as Bettas can get gut blockages with too much bloodworm.
A small piece of shelled pea (yes the inside of a defrosted frozen pea is fine) once a week is also very good for keeping things moving through the fish's guts.

Hikari Betta bio gold pellets are perfect for a staple dried diet on most days of the week, with frozen bloodworm/brine shrimp etc on 2 or 3 of the other days.

 

[GuppyGoddess]

Hikari Betta bio gold pellets are perfect for a staple dried diet on most days of the week, with frozen bloodworm/brine shrimp etc on 2 or 3 of the other days.

About bloodworms. A great trick is to give the blood worms AFTER water changes. The betta will associate the water change with a yummy treat. Bettas have a remarkable memory for being so little and your little guy will come to expect his blood worm!